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What is the best way to accept payments (in USD) f...
# tribe
g
What is the best way to accept payments (in USD) for us? PayPal is charging high fees I guess.
b
Hi
You can use Stripe
l
@brainy-airline-67822 For Stripe, you need to have a US bank account for which you need to be a US entity. You can register one using Stripe Atlas -- but then it is a chore if you are just experimenting. @gray-bird-14941 RazorPay in India is offering USD purchases on beta basis the last I checked with them - you would need to create an account and ping them. The other options are 2Checkout which will also push your $$ to your Indian account. And of course, worse case is PayPal - but it might be decent if you are just experimenting. Once you have enough traction, might make sense to even go the Stripe route.
g
Awesome. Thanks for the replies. I signed up for Razorpay, but sad thing they don't allow Individuals yet(only registered businesses).
I found Payoneer, which has a lesser fee when compared to PayPal.
l
@gray-bird-14941 - Hmm.. Are you charging for a product? Like a Saas subscription or are you looking to get money for consulting in?
g
I am charging a client for some freelance work. You can consider it money for consulting.
l
Right. Yes - so RazorPay would not be for that. I should have asked that first 🙂 Best option is to get a Wire Transfer done - if the client is open to the slight hassle. 2nd best option is Payoneer which you are already on. 3rd best option is TransferWise - you may get better rates than Payoneer -- but your client needs to open an account with them as well (lesser hassle than Wire but more than Payoneer)
b
Yeah, everyone should be able to wire transfers
l
Yeah. Thats the best but for two things: 1. Client has to bear the costs which is $25 - $50 per transfer. 2. Wire transfers are super clunky affairs and prone to errors. Big pain to setup.
I wish it was as easy as UPI .. But banking in most other countries has not caught up to the ease we have in India
😀 3
h
Remitly is a slightly better option if the client is okay with creating an account, at least in my experience. Also, I have used Payoneer in the past and it is very reliable.
r
Payoneer is very reliable and charges minimal fees.
b
Nope
Stripe is available in India for a long time @rough-autumn-89795 @helpful-raincoat-87337 @loud-glass-33663 @gray-bird-14941
Currently they are in private invite
But you can contact them and ask for an invite or sign up at http://stripe.com/global#in
l
Hmm.. I did fill up that form when it first opened but don't have my invite as yet. Are you using it @brainy-airline-67822?
b
They are providing me an invite but before that, I contact their support team for a few questions. @loud-glass-33663
👍 1
h
Same here. Filled it out a while back. Once for a company I used to work for and once for myself. Never heard back from them.
b
Yeah, they did mention that they have got an insane amount of requests
c
Did you guys checkout Skrill? I have been using it for last 6 years :)
b
🤔
g
I have used transferwise. rates are pretty good. downside is that you will get money in INR.
h
I am also using transferwise. It's easy and rates are also great. Another option is Xoom also but it's for personal use only. they deactivate business accounts.
b
That's great to see some new payment platforms.
s
Transferwise > Payoneer > Paypal Upwork is even good if you have clients on there, if not Get BYO clients and 0 fees etc also
w
Has anyone used wire transfer to receive payment? How was the experience?
l
@worried-librarian-12856 Yes. I receive them every month. If you have regular clients, this is the best option for you (along with Transferwise I have heard). Both require some sort of setup from t he client side. Wire transfers are a bit more complicated and client needs to bear the $25 / $50 charge per transfer.
w
@loud-glass-33663 Great. One of my clients is keen to start using wire transfer and do not want to use Paypal, Transferwise. I have not used wire transfer earlier. Which bank do you use? I have read some public sector banks takes time and forms to get FIRC.
l
@worried-librarian-12856 I would suggest ICICI. I have accounts with both ICICI and Kotak. ICICI has better rates as well as better systems (you would need to open a current account). Open an EEFC account - https://www.icicibank.com/Personal-Banking/account-deposit/eefc-account/index.page
Remember that you can negotiate the exchange rate depending on your throughput. Also, you would need to keep INR 50K in the account if you don't reach a 25K USD throughput per month (or something). They offer me 30p per $ rates. Earlier, I used to get it in my personal account - the rate there was around Rs. 3 - 4 / $ which can get expensive.
w
Thanks, ICICI account looks good.
the rate there was around Rs. 3 - 4 / $ which can get expensive.
3-4 Rs less than the current market rate?
l
@worried-librarian-12856 Yes. It is the mid-market rate for the date. So if you Google: 1 USD to INR -- ICICI is quite close to that rate (if you have the EEFC account). If not, then it is about Rs. 3ish lesser. Which is equivalent to you going and buying USD from the bank. (Banks will sell you USD at higher rate than the Google rate and buy it lower than the Google rate).
w
Got it. There should be additional documents required to open EEFC account like GST number or other sole proprietorship proof.
l
Only the Proprietorship proof was enough for me. I am not registered for GST. If you earn all income in foreign currency, my CA advised me to hold on to GST as the rate is 0% anyways.
w
Yeah, GST complicates things. But GST is mandatory for exports of services which comes under 0%. Only compliance and no tax to the government. I have also not taken it yet.
btw which other Proprietorship proof you are using?
l
@worried-librarian-12856 Shop Act license.
👍🏼 1
g
EEFC account seems interesting 🤔 Did your CA suggested that? @loud-glass-33663
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